Why is my 196GB PC running so slow?

Windows XP Home 2002 edition; SP2. AMD Athlon XP2000+
36GB HDD, 1GB RAM. Internet access 1MB cable broadband
NIS2005, Ad-aware, Spybot & SpywareDoctor keep it clean

Installed new 160GB HDD as slave to 36GB master
Set FS for new 160GB HDD as NTFS (too big for FAT32)
Therefore converted old 36GB master drive from FAT32 to NTFS as well
36GB master is now partitioned into 512byte clusters

Now games are fast but file/folder retrieval & opening takes ages as does website opening.
Cannot reload system because reload disks, ok before, now don't recognise the PC.

Is slowness due to:
1) 512byte clusters on master drive being too small?
2) the 2 drives not being configured properly?
3) NTFS being unsuitable for 36GB master drive?

Or is there something else I missed?

Please help!

Jon DeMassey

 

Please choose the standard colour and font unless you have an eyesight problem. It makes reading a lot easier.

How are the drives hooked up? For example, are they both on the same controller as Master/Slave etc.

Is DMA enabled?


If you are unsure, download EVEREST and post the log as an attachment. (don't copy and paste, only attach it please)

 

Make sure your IDE/ATA HDD is performing at its best
Things to be aware of when doing a FAT to NTFS convert

 

Also a misconfigured AntiVirus-/AntiSpyware-Monitor can also lead to very slow disk-performance, because the hooks they make into the filesystem.